Post-rut cow elk location?

[Paul in Idaho]

I have heard a lot about bulls moving into sanctuaries after the rut, but haven't heard much about what the cows do.

In mid-October during my deer hunt, I saw lots of elk. Bulls were still bugling and tending cows. This year I had a November antlerless elk tag, so I went to the same area where I saw so many elk just two weeks earlier. They were all gone. There had been about 2 inches of snowfall since I was there, and no elk tracks were visible anywhere I hiked. My hunt covered elevations from 8000 to 9600 feet, in dense timber, mahogany shrubs, and open sage and grass meadows. Not one elk track was found.

What are everyone's thoughts about what cow elk do between the rut and when snow pushes them down to winter range?

 

[kwyeewyk]

I won't pretend to be an expert in elk behavior or movements, but I think in general the cows are trying to minimize energy expenditure knowing they're feeding a growing fetus through the winter. For most areas this means avoiding hunters if necessary, but staying closer to the snowline and easier access feed. The bulls will tough it out in the high country until deep snow pushes them out, but the cows are more willing to move down sooner. If there's hunter pressure they'll stay up in the snow and move down at night to feed. They still seek sanctuaries, just not to the extent that bulls do, proportional to hunter pressure. It can be tricky to predict movements and use patterns from year to year though, some areas are very consistent but other areas can be influenced more by weather patterns, hunter pressure, predators, etc and they may not be where you'd expect them to be, with no clear explanation why.

 

[Paul in Idaho]

Thanks for your reply. That all makes sense to me. Maybe the areas I hunted are more influenced by various factors so aren't used as consistently.

I have been doing more reading since my post, mainly in Elk of North America by Thomas and Toweill. This part from page 376 (1982 edition) seems relevant. "The onset of autumn and nights with freezing temperatures is accompanied by a shift in forage preference and availability from herbs to shrubs. Elk use of forest communities continues to increase. ... Late autumn and early winter migrations from summer range are determined largely by snow depth and forage availability."

When I watched them in October, they were eating shrubs already. It's very possible they just moved over a ridge to better browse. Another idea just occurred to me from the quote above. Besides the 2" of snow, it got much colder. Reported overnight lows were 5-15˚. It was just starting to warm back up when I arrived. I wonder if they had moved to an area with better thermal cover? There's a table on the same page as quote lists 20 different factors that can influence habitat selection. Thermal cover is one of them.

 

[exponentialpi]

I think the other big factor will be water. If springs and creeks are freezing over solid, they will start moving lower.

 

[Paul in Idaho]

The creek was frozen in all but the fastest-flowing areas when I arrived. It was starting to break up the day I left. One thing that puzzles me is that in some parts of that unit I know to be heavily used winter range, there is no water.

 

[bullbugle307]

They'll probably be at the intersection of "best food" and "not getting shot at."

 

[Paul in Idaho]

They'll probably be at the intersection of "best food" and "not getting shot at."

Makes sense, and that's why I chose the spot I did. I guess there are many other spots with the same benefits in that area, and they were just in another one those days.

 

[Elkmagnet]

Frankly around here it depends on the unit. Some are 180 from others.

 

[exponentialpi]

They'll probably be at the intersection of "best food" and "not getting shot at."

And not getting eaten by wolves. Ran into a good size pack yesterday. Not fun when carrying a muzzleloader.

 

[Idhikker]

They like to not get shot. The cows were hard to find this year where I took my buddy. I found a bunch of bull groups before finding a single cow group with over 100 cows.